SAULT STE. MARIE — There were fireworks, and the primary igniter was Ray'nell Anderson Friday night at VanCitters Field.

Anderson sparked Sault High with 292 yards rushing and three touchdowns in a 48-18 win over the Ionia Bulldogs in a Division 3 pre-district playoff game at VanCitters Field Friday.

Sault Ste. Marie (7-3) advances to the district final at Mount Pleasant on either Friday or Saturday, Nov. 9-10. The Mount Pleasant Oilers beat Sparta 42-7 in a pre-district.

The Blue Devils unleashed a flurry of big plays, scoring four touchdowns of 50-plus yards. Anderson scored on TD runs of 50, 30 and 75 yards. Quarterback Michael James had TD runs of 10 and 25 yards, and also threw a 50-yard TD pass to Jordan Houghton. Justin DeLisle had a 85-yard TD run on a double reverse.

Anderson — an All-UP Dream Team running back — looked like a man on a mission, running with speed and power. He finished with 292 yards on 16 carries, pushing his school single-season rushing record to 1,644 yards.

"We wanted to win," Anderson said. "We didn't get here (playoffs) just to play one game. We're here for the big picture.

"Everybody played as hard as they could, right to the whistle. It's my senior year and if this was my last home game, I'm happy we gave it all we had."

The Blue Devils led 21-12 after the first quarter and carried that lead into halftime. James scored on a 10-yard run, while Anderson had a 50-yard TD run in the opening quarter. Following James' TD, fireworks could be seen on the northern horizon. The fireworks show turned out to be part of the Sault, Ont. Station Mall's 40th anniversary celebration, but might as well have been part of the Blue Devils' party.

The Blue Devils only pass completion of the game also went for a touchdown, as James connected with sophomore Jordan Houghton over the middle, and Houghton outraced the defense to the end zone.

"We got off to a good start, and thought we could eventually wear them down," Sault coach Scott Menard said. "We were waiting for a chance to unleash Ray, and we started to do that in the second quarter.

"It was a great all-around effort," Menard said. "We had contributions from a lot of guys and that's what it takes in the playoffs. We got the ball in the hands of our playmakers, and then our defense did what they've done all year — sometimes they bend but they don't break."

The Bulldogs, who made their first playoff appearance since 2006, finish 7-3. Bulldogs junior quarterback Austin Gregory was 10-of-18 passing for 150 yards and one touchdown. Gregory also ran for 128 yards on 18 carries and one touchdown.

Ionia's scoring plays included a 1-yard TD run from Kyle Parks and a 60-yard TD run from Gregory in the first quarter.

Page 2 of 2 - "We didn't execute very well and the Sault did, they played a really good game," Ionia coach Mike Holes said. "In the second half, they were just tougher than we were. They made the big plays."

The Blue Devils pulled away, scoring 21 unanswered points in the second half. Sault High pushed its lead to 42-12 early in the fourth quarter on Anderson's third touchdown of the night, a 75-yard scamper.

"He (Anderson) was a really good back, and he ran the way a really good back does," Holes said. "Their quarterback (James) was also a nice threat."

Ionia scored on a 71-pass from Gregory to Collin Prominski to get within 42-18 with 10:46 remaining. But the Bulldogs could not get any closer.

Sault Ste. Marie outgained Ionia 560 to 345 in total offense on a wet, muddy field with temperatures in the mid-40s. The Blue Devils compiled 510 yards rushing and 50 yards passing.

DeLisle had 118 yards rushing on five carries, while James added 74 yards on nine carries.

Istvan Wilhelms kicked 6-of-7 PATs for the Blue Devils. Matt Kibble and Nathan LaJoie notched six tackles each and James added five stops. DeLisle had an interception and fumble recovery. Kaleb Harstvedt, Duncan Doran, Zach Phillips and Cliff Milam had quarterback sacks.

Sault High improved to 2-4 in playoff games. The Blue Devils notched their first playoff win since 2007,when they beat Bangor John Glenn 17-14.

The Bulldogs had 195 yards rushing on 39 carries. Parks finished with 61 yards on 19 carries. Prominski led the receivers with five catches for 103 yards, while Brian Wiles added three catches for 18 yards. Bailey Mitchell and Charlie Powell had one catch each.